diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 6c9acfb8..482a59d0 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.
 
 ### Changed
 * Explicitly forbid datetime interval conditions (#373).
+* Storage initialization is now asynchronous by default for Tarantool 3.0+ (#412).
 
 ### Fixed
 * Working with datetime conditions in case of non-indexed fields or
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index f37fb15c..a5488c38 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -93,7 +93,8 @@ enough access to modify some space, then you need to give access to the user.
 You can call `crud.init_storage{async = true}` to bootstrap procedures grants
 asynchronously. It is useful in case your application master instances may
 start in ro mode (for example, if you use Tarantool 3.x). By default,
-synchronous bootstrap is used.
+asynchronous bootstrap is used for Tarantool 3.x and
+synchronous bootstrap is used for Tarantool 1.10 and 2.x.
 
 All VShard routers should call `crud.init_router()` after `vshard.router.cfg()`
 (or enable the `crud-router` role for Cartridge) to make `crud` functions
diff --git a/crud/common/utils.lua b/crud/common/utils.lua
index 2b47bad6..3751070e 100644
--- a/crud/common/utils.lua
+++ b/crud/common/utils.lua
@@ -687,13 +687,18 @@ local function determine_enabled_features()
     -- https://github.com/tarantool/tarantool/commit/11f2d999a92e45ee41b8c8d0014d8a09290fef7b
     enabled_tarantool_features.box_watch = is_version_ge(major, minor, patch, suffix,
                                                          2, 10, 0, 'beta2')
+
+    enabled_tarantool_features.tarantool_3 = is_version_ge(major, minor, patch, suffix,
+                                                           3, 0, 0, nil)
 end
 
 determine_enabled_features()
 
 for feature_name, feature_enabled in pairs(enabled_tarantool_features) do
     local util_name
-    if feature_name == 'builtin_merger' then
+    if feature_name == 'tarantool_3' then
+        util_name = ('is_%s'):format(feature_name)
+    elseif feature_name == 'builtin_merger' then
         util_name = ('tarantool_has_%s'):format(feature_name)
     else
         util_name = ('tarantool_supports_%s'):format(feature_name)
diff --git a/crud/storage.lua b/crud/storage.lua
index 5524574f..b00b1386 100644
--- a/crud/storage.lua
+++ b/crud/storage.lua
@@ -82,6 +82,13 @@ local modules_with_storage_api = {
     storage_info,
 }
 
+local DEFAULT_ASYNC
+if utils.is_tarantool_3() then
+    DEFAULT_ASYNC = true
+else
+    DEFAULT_ASYNC = false
+end
+
 local function init_impl()
     rawset(_G, utils.STORAGE_NAMESPACE, {})
 
@@ -105,7 +112,7 @@ function storage.init(opts)
     opts = opts or {}
 
     if opts.async == nil then
-        opts.async = false
+        opts.async = DEFAULT_ASYNC
     end
 
     if type(box.cfg) ~= 'table' then
diff --git a/test/unit/not_initialized_test.lua b/test/unit/not_initialized_test.lua
index bbe215e1..2e23e5bb 100644
--- a/test/unit/not_initialized_test.lua
+++ b/test/unit/not_initialized_test.lua
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ end)
 pgroup.test_no_vshard_storage_cfg = function(g)
     t.assert_error_msg_contains('vshard.storage.cfg() must be called first', function()
         g.test_server:exec(function()
-            require('crud').init_storage()
+            require('crud').init_storage{async = false}
         end)
     end)
 end